SK Group deal opens door to expansion in the Middle East

The Middle East is the next big target region for SK Group, as there are abundant resources and business opportunities open to the company.

On Tuesday, the third-largest family-run conglomerate in Korea inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kuwait’s state-run oil corporation, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and is looking forward to expanding its businesses in Kuwait through the cooperation.

The group’s chairman, Chey Tae-won, met with Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti prime minister, on Tuesday at a hotel in Jongno District, central Seoul, to discuss ways to partner with Kuwait in sectors such as chemicals, energy and infrastructure construction.

“[SK] is a private company, but we will do our part to strengthen business partnership between Korea and Kuwait,” Chey said. “We have been working together with KPC in many areas, including importing crude oil and large-scale plant construction.”

SK signed the MOU with the eighth-largest oil producer in the world and Kuwait’s biggest energy provider on Tuesday.

As part of efforts to accelerate the group’s business in the Middle East, Chey visited Iran as a member of a Korean business leaders’ group that accompanied President Park Geun-hye earlier this month.

“SK will continue expanding business in the fields of energy, chemicals, ICT, semiconductors and infrastructure construction in this land of opportunities,” an SK associate said.